Comments on: Helping People Belong http://bensternke.com/2009/12/helping-people-belong/ field notes from the missional church planting frontier Thu, 17 May 2012 19:15:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Ben Sternke http://bensternke.com/2009/12/helping-people-belong/comment-page-1/#comment-2206 Ben Sternke Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:49:14 +0000 http://bensternke.com/?p=2007#comment-2206 Charles, I know the tension you're dealing with! In Myers' wrestling with how people belong, I think there is also a need to remember that people may not, all by themselves, choose healthy communities, or even know what they need. It seems to me that creating these environments for belonging needs to be paired with teaching and modeling what Christian community is really all about, a lot of which could probably happen in the environments themselves. Charles, I know the tension you're dealing with! In Myers' wrestling with how people belong, I think there is also a need to remember that people may not, all by themselves, choose healthy communities, or even know what they need.

It seems to me that creating these environments for belonging needs to be paired with teaching and modeling what Christian community is really all about, a lot of which could probably happen in the environments themselves.

]]> By: Charles http://bensternke.com/2009/12/helping-people-belong/comment-page-1/#comment-2204 Charles Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:41:41 +0000 http://bensternke.com/?p=2007#comment-2204 This type of thinking is new to me in the church environment. Most churches try to "program" a person into a small group immediately and this can be very uncomfortable to the person being pursued. I believe small groups are important and have to be dictated to some degree, but there could be a new process for how this happens. Most of the time when people come into a church their idea of community has been skewed by the world in which they live. So how do we turn the ship? The more I type, the less enthused I get about the spaces. I get it, but at the same time I understand why churches program a small group environment. The key is to offer multiple environments I guess. This type of thinking is new to me in the church environment. Most churches try to "program" a person into a small group immediately and this can be very uncomfortable to the person being pursued. I believe small groups are important and have to be dictated to some degree, but there could be a new process for how this happens. Most of the time when people come into a church their idea of community has been skewed by the world in which they live. So how do we turn the ship? The more I type, the less enthused I get about the spaces. I get it, but at the same time I understand why churches program a small group environment. The key is to offer multiple environments I guess.

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